The Kraush family had a monthly tradition: going out to hunt certain animals as physical, spiritual, and mental training.
Gram believed this routine would bring them closer to the noble lifestyle. At first, he forced the boys to go, but over time they grew accustomed to it.
Hunting was reserved for the men of the Kraush family, so Frieda and Nila, Elin's older sister, stayed at home, waiting for the men's return with dinner.
Kaid always pretended to be sick to avoid going, locking himself in his room. Alkham silently obeyed and went without arguing, while Elin loved hunting trips.
"Is everyone ready?" Gram shouted, standing at the palace gates with a massive carriage behind him, pulled by four horses.
"Yes, yes, we're coming!"
Alkham and Elin hurried down the steps and climbed into the carriage.
Both wore suitable hunting clothes with hats shielding them from the sun, carrying baskets for their spears.
Alkham's basket was larger than Elin's, and when Elin noticed Alkham struggling under its weight:
"Need some help? My basket's light anyway."
Alkham was surprised—perhaps the first time someone had offered to help him. He hesitated, then replied:
"Yes… it's heavy. Father makes me carry a bigger load each month. Even my shoulders…"
Alkham set the basket down, showing Elin his shoulder, raw, swollen, and red from the strain.
"That's awful!" Elin shouted, catching Gram's attention outside the carriage.
Alkham quickly hid his shoulder and tried to lift the basket again, but a sharp pain made him drop all the spears, which rolled out of the carriage and fell in front of Gram.
Gram looked at Alkham, then at Elin, while Alkham's gaze at his father showed more than fear—it was as if he sensed death approaching.
"Sorry!" Alkham shouted, but before he could continue, Gram slapped him hard, tossing him out of the carriage onto the ground.
Shocked, Alkham could barely speak, holding his cheek and looking up. Gram approached and slapped him again, causing him to hit the house wall. Frieda and Nila rushed out in shock.
"Stop!" Frieda cried, but Gram ignored her, continuing to strike Alkham until his cheeks swelled, tears fell, and blood ran from his nose.
Something flickered behind Gram—he turned to see a spear pierce the wall beside his cheek.
Elin jumped from the carriage, grabbing a spear, standing between his father and Alkham, hatred sparking like fire in his eyes.
"Touch him again, and I swear the next spear won't miss!"
Frieda, feeling her world collapse, fainted to the ground. Nila stayed beside her, trying to comfort her.
Gram looked at Elin with an arrogant smile.
"You think you're a man, little one?"
Elin didn't get angry or overthink. He smiled in the same way and replied:
"Do you?"
Elin's response was not only a jab at the head of the family but an insult to Gram's masculinity for doubting a child.
Gram glanced at the long spear aimed at his throat, then at Elin's determined eyes protecting someone he cared for.
"Let's go hunt," he said.
Gram climbed to the front of the carriage, leaving Elin and Alkham puzzled.
Elin helped his brother to his feet and carried all the spears himself this time.
"Be careful, or I might end up hunting you instead of the deer, Father!"
With an arrogant look, Elin shot those words at Gram.
"Why don't you try?" Gram replied.
The family carriage set off toward the city outskirts, entering a dense forest, stopping by a massive waterfall.
"We'll set the camp here," Gram instructed. He and Elin exchanged several glances, but nothing happened physically between them.
While Alkham gathered firewood, Elin set up the large tent they brought, taking food from the carriage and arranging it inside.
The boys continued their tasks while Gram scanned the horizon for prey.
"Move… I see something," Gram said.
Elin and Alkham grabbed their spears and ran after him.
Though they hunted every month, and Elin's mind was accustomed to these memories, something felt different this time.
Gram and Alkham sensed it too, and Elin noticed it instantly.
What was running toward them wasn't an ordinary animal—no deer, rabbit, or wild boar.
They stopped at once upon seeing the creature, fear etched on all their faces.
No thought was needed; in an instant, every cell screamed to flee, and they all shouted together:
"It's an End!"
Ends are unknown entities. Some say they are the curse of a great sorcerer; others say they arise from human sin, formed from negative thoughts and emotions.
No one knows for sure, but everyone knows they attack randomly and annihilate anything in their area.
Alkham, Gram, and Elin ran at full speed, but the massive four-legged creature closed in.
Elin glanced back, seeing thousands of jagged teeth and a dark, night-black body etched with runes.
No eyes, no nose, no ears—only a mouth and an insatiable killing instinct.
Elin and Alkham split from Gram, hiding behind a massive tree trunk.
"What is an End doing here?!"
"How would I know? What the hell is this thing?!"
Their hearts raced, despair creeping in as they watched the End approach.
"Do you have your spear?" Elin asked Alkham. He nodded.
"Good."
"Are you going to fight it? Are you insane?"
"And who said I will?"
Elin threw his spear in the opposite direction, and the End lunged at it.
They ran, but the End tracked their footsteps.
"How can it hear without ears?"
"It's an End, idiot! It can do anything!"
Elin and Alkham had no choice but to run until their legs gave out—nothing could stop an End from devouring someone.
Elin spotted Gram running, but the End sensed him too, turning toward him.
"Damn, it's going for Father!"
"Leave him!" Elin shouted.
Alkham's face revealed not only gratitude but anxiety, sorrow, and regret. The distorted look was unbearable; Elin slammed Alkham to the ground with a strong punch.
"Are you kidding me? You want to take some revenge with his life?!"
"Some? You don't even talk to me about this! Wasn't all this your fault to begin with?!"
Alkham rose slowly, tears streaming, his voice breaking from rage and grief:
"You and that old man! Everything you've done has turned my life into hell! And if this End devours him, I'm more than grateful to see it happen!"
"But he's your father!" Elin shouted, trying to reason. Alkham's expression revealed he'd long since lost anything resembling that name.
"I told you! Don't speak of what you don't understand! For a ten-year-old, you're doing too much these days! Who are you?"
Alkham ran at Elin, throwing a punch, which Elin easily dodged, striking back into Alkham's chest, hearing the echo in his bones.
Elin continued dodging Alkham's strikes until Alkham's movements slowed. Elin clenched his fist and knocked Alkham away with a strike to his jaw.
"Listen, Alkham… I am Elin Kraush, and you are Alkham Kraush. Even if this name carries a knife that keeps stabbing us, we'll carry it!"
"I've endured so much already," Alkham said through pain, lying on the ground.
"Endure more! For Nila, for Kaid, and for Trent! If you hate me, hate me. If you hate Father, hate him—but never abandon hope or throw away other lives!"
"But…"
"And if you want to take someone's life, at least have the courage to do it yourself, don't hide and wait for someone else to act!"
"You're just a child!"
"Yet I defeated you! So grow stronger, become a Transcendent, right? I will too! Let's see who will crush the other's skull in the end."
"You're just talking nonsense," Alkham got up, dusting himself off.
"So what's your decision?"
"I'll return home. If you want to save the old man, do it yourself."
Alkham ran off, annoyed. Not by defeat or Elin, but by the truth of Elin's words.
Alkham had suffered at the hands of his younger brother and Gram, but surrendering now meant admitting defeat.
To prove he had truly won, he would live proudly, become stronger, and stand before them saying, I am here.
"And until that time! Don't give up!" Elin shouted to Alkham, then picked up a discarded spear and took a deep breath.
His legs trembled; this young body had reached its limit. Elin feared the End indescribably, yet he pushed forward to protect someone who had once been this body's father—a bond he could not explain in words.
On a Kraush family hunting day, among the towering forest trees, Elin Kraush swore he would hunt that End.